Columbus Police Pipe Up About Weeds, The Illegal Kind

COLUMBUS, OH — You’ve been warned. If you’re not weeding your weed garden, and by weed garden we mean a marijuana plot, Columbus police are going to do it for you.

This is almost too easy. Columbus police Lt. Duane Mabry said on Facebook that if the cops have to do the weeding themselves, their assistance “may come at a ‘higher’ price.”

In other words, you’re going to get busted.

The post said Police Officer Piotre Derdzinski was riding his bike in the alleys of the 13th Precint in South Columbus, which “turns up all kinds of stuff” — in this case a couple of large marijuana plants growing in a vegetable garden.

Recreational marijuana is illegal in Ohio, and the state’s medical cannabis law doesn’t become fully effective until Sept. 8. When the law is fully implemented, registered patients with a physician’s recommendation will be able to purchase Ohio-grown medical cannabis from state-licensed dispensaries.

And the garden plot Derdzinski discovered isn’t one of those.

The post is generating a lot of chatter.

One person commented that as Ohio struggles with the opioid epidemic and overdoses, police are “worried about the wrong thing.” Another person would “rather see the cops ride on by a few cannabis plants and deal with more serious problems” like heroin and human trafficking.

But police had plenty of defenders, too.

Many commended police for doing their job, including one who advised officers to “never mind the naysayers and potheads.” Someone else said “illegal is still illegal” and people “don’t get to pick and choose which laws you follow.”

“I am not surprised by the negative comments. It's the world we live in these days,” another person wrote. “However, he was on patrol looking out for the citizens. I'm sure the comments would have been different if he came upon a rape/assault in progress. Be thankful for the patrol. He did his job.”

Others commenting on the post championed full legalization.

“I'm for legalization, completely, but I also feel like because the law still says it's illegal we shouldn't insult the cops for just doing their job,” one person wrote. “Instead of getting mad at the police do something constructive to fix an unjust law so they don't have to.”

Another wrote: “For pity’s sake, legalize the stuff already. How anyone can continue to support illegalization is beyond me. Time and time again alcohol has been proven to be far worse for our bodies and community and it’s perfectly legal. I don’t use the stuff but I don’t believe it should be illegal.”

Follow the post below.

Photo via Columbus Police Department Facebook page